After his visit to Maharashtra, BJP national president Amit Shah will meet another alliance partner, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), in Chandigarh on Thursday.
BJP president Amit Shah will meet Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and two sports legends — ‘flying sikh’ Milkha Singh and Indian hockey team’s former captain Balbir Singh — as part of his party’s ‘Sampark se Samarthan’ initiative which is aimed at highlighting the Modi Government’s achievements and soliciting support in the run up to the 2019 general election.
Shah’s visit is significant as the continuation of age-old ties with the Akali Dal is expected to send across a message to other States of standing united in phase of emerging alliances at the national-level.
Despite fissures and divergent point of views, the two alliance partners — the SAD and the BJP — have stood together all this while. However, the relation suffered a direct hit after the combine’s resounding defeat in 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, with the two finishing at poor third, even losing the place of main Opposition in Vidhan Sabha to the nascent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Stunned by the recent by-elections’ trouncing, Karnataka episode coupled with all Opposition parties coming together, the BJP has switched into a damage control mode considering that 2019 mega show is just a few months away.
In the four-year period, the BJP’s tally in the lok Sabha has come down from 282 to 274 — just above the absolute majority mark. Many of its allies — Shiv Sena in Maharashtra,
TDP in Andhra Pradesh — have decided to part ways with the BJP.
Alarmed by the situation emerging before the final showdown, ruling party is reaching out to its allies who have either been criticising or expressing their dissent with the party and also to strengthen the NDA ahead of the lok Sabha polls next year.
As a part of the same strategy, Shah would be meeting the SAD patriarch and five-time Chief Minister Parkash Singh, his son and SAD president Sukhbir Badal, besides other senior leaders on Thursday.
At the same time, SAD president described the current situation as “war-like situation” while calling upon all the NDA partners to settle differences to ensure victory in the general elections next year.
“It is a war like situation...the general elections are due next year and we need to strengthen the NDA and should resolve our differences to emerge victorious in the next general elections,” said Sukhbir.
He said the SAD-BJP are “natural allies”, and theirs was not a relation of give and take. The meeting will come days after the Centre had floated a new scheme to refund Central GST share on langar purchases, for which the SAD is claiming all the credit.
Shah has also has recently launched the ‘Sampark for Samarthan’ programme to reach out to the people to create awareness about the programmes launched by the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP leaders maintained that his visit to Punjab is a part of the same.
A senior BJP leader, while speaking to The Pioneer, said that the senior Badal is among the few senior-most and experienced leaders across the country, and Shah wanted to meet him to get a couple of political lessons.
Besides meeting the Akalis, Shah would also be meeting the in-charges of 13 lok Sabha constituencies, besides the members of party’s State core group and the State office-bearers.
It will be followed by a meeting with the BJP scheduled caste (SC) wing. Considering the massive vote bank and the prevailing resentment among the dalit leaders of the state Congress, the meeting assumes significance.
later, an interaction with State lok Sabha vistaraks will also be held.